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The Alta Moda AM-10 is an in depth single channel compressor and limiter that is for use in 500 series racks. It is an analog piece of gear that doesn't have any connections of it's own as you need to hook it into a 500 series rack. It has FET (field effect transistor) based gain control and won't be rack mountable outside of a 500 series rack.

UTILIZATION

The configuration of the Alta Moda AM-10 has a good amount going on, especially for a 500 series module where you don't have as much physical space for parameters. The AM-10 is split into a compressor and limiter section, with knobs for comp, limit, attack, release and effect and dry levels. It also has three switches for the limiter - slow or fast release, linking, and a high pass filter at 120 Hz. The compressor also has pretty much the same switches, except instead of the release it has one for auto or manual. The manual isn't necessary unless you're a beginner or unfamiliar with these basic parameters.

SOUND QUALITY

The tone quality of the Alta Moda AM-10 is in general awesome, especially because you've got so much control over the end result. In my opinion it should be able to adapt to most situations, but I've gotten my best results with it for mixing drums and guitars. It's got a really full sound to it, and is great both for subtle compression and for hard limiting. I can't imagine too many users being disappointed with the overall sound of the AM-10.

OVERALL OPINION

The Alta Moda AM-10 is definitely a compressor/limiter that I would consider or at least check out if you've got a 500 series rack. It's not the typical make up of a compressor/limiter, but that's one of the main things that I like about it. The price isn't unreasonable by any stretch, so if you've got a 500 series rack or are looking to put one together, beyond the API modules, the AM-10 would be one of the first places I'd look.